Curtain-fastener.



H. HIGGIN. CURTAIN FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10, 190B.

Patented Jan. 25, 1910.

[n ve ntor.

w%@ A zto Wiz/nesses.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY HIGGIN, 0F NEWPORT, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO THE HIGGIN MANUFACTUR- ING COMPANY, OF NEWPORT, KENTUCKY. A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

CURTAIN-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 10, 1908.

947,427. Patented Jan. 25, 1910.

Serial No. 447,835.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Hnnnr Hicem, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Newport, in the county of Campbell and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Curtain-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

The several features of my invention and the various advantages resulting from their In the accompanying drawings making part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate correspondmg parts,-Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a curtain fastener embodying my invention and showing the curtain and the latch 1 box and the post, the latch box locked to the post. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the 1 latch box and the curtain of the said curtain t fastener when the slidable latch is in the use congointly or otherwise will be apparent position lt occupies when it engages the from the followlngdescription and cla m. 5 post. 1mg. 3 is another front elevation of One of the principal ob e cts of my 1n- 1 the said. latch box, the latch being in the ventlon is to provlde a curtain fastener for 1 position it occupies when the latch does not the curtains of varlous vehlcles astrave] at engage the post, and therefore the fastener a ratel of speed, such as adutfimlollolles, tracifs unlocked and is free to be moved away tione ectrlc motor cars an t e no. 1 rom the vehicle or to be applied to the It is particularly valiiable to such vehicles post when it is desired to lock the curtain as are subject to frequentlyrecurring forcible i to the vehicle. Fig. at is a top view of the vertical thrusts and lateral thrusts. These 1 top or cap piece of the latch box. Fig. 5 is thrusts and also the reat velocity of the l a vertical central section of this cap piece currents of air and th e intense pressure of shown in Fig. 4-, and taken in the plane the air against the rapidly moving vehicle, 1 0f the dotted line 5, 5, of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 are powerful agents to disengage from the t is a top view of the back plate of the vehlcle any attachment connected to the velatch box. Fig. 7 is a vertical central sech1cle. i tion of thisback plate taken in the plane of This curtam fastener 15 quickly andeasily the dotted hne 7 7, of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 1s a top fastened. The act of fastening it requires no view of the bottom plate of the latch box. outlayof strengthl. Tlae molde of1 fatstenl- 9 is 1atvcii'tilcal central secltion of tiliis mg 1 is very simp e an easi y unc ers not. 0 om p a e a en in ie p ane 0'. ie

The fastener, when the curtain is fastened dotted line 9, 9. of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a top by it to the proper part of the vehicle is view of the slidable latch. Fig. 11 is a efliciently locked and can not be unlocked vertical transverse section of this slidablc lpy the flapplng or Vlgl'zlfllOn oftthe1 curtailn 1 llaltctllii f 1 lE 0Tl;1 ln]%1Q plane1 0of the dcztted line rom any cause nor y 1e vcr'ica or SICG f o 1 .4191 a 1s a ver ica. centhrusts or jerks which the vehicle is com- 1 trzil siection taken thi ough the line 12, 12 l l pelled to make when passing over uneven of Fig. 1, of the latch box, and also of a surfaces, whether of street, road or other portion of the curtain which carries the place. latch box, and of the wall or vehicle side to The curtain fastener is a latching device, 1 which the fastener is attached, and of the and it is divisible into two main parts, post to which the curtain is fastened, but namely: the latch box and the post. The showing the slidable latch as disengaged latch box and all the parts that compose from the post. Fig. 13 is a vertical, central it are usually attached to the curtain of sectional view of one half of the parts the vehicle. The post is usually attached to 1 shown in Fig. 12, this section being taken a side or end of the vehicle. The latch box in the plane of the dotted line 13, 13, of is adapted to allow the post to enter it and Fig. 3. Fig. 14 is a top view of the post the latch to he slid in a given direction and attached to a. portion of the body or other thereby engage the post. Reversing the said 1 part of the vehicle. Fig. 15 is a vertical. direction in which the latch is slid operates central transverse section of this post, taken to disengage the latch from the post, and .in the plane of the dotted line '15, 15. of permit the latch box with its curtain to be Fig. 1 1. removed from the post. 1 A indicates thelatch box and the parts it I Will now describe my invention in detail. 1 contains.

B indicates the curtain to which the latch box is attached. This curtain may be of any suitable material.

0 indicates the post.

1) indicates a part of the vehicle to which the post is attached, and which supports the post. The latch box A preferably consists. of four parts, namely: Firstz-a cap piece E; secondly :a bottom piece or plate F; thirdly :-a back piece or plate G; and fourthly:-a slidable latch H. The bottom piece F rests upon and against. the curtain B. This bottom piece has a central opening F which opening alines with the opening 13 of the curtain. It is through this opening that the post C enters a latch box A. This v bottom piece has a flange F preferably 10- cated at its outer edge.

It is upon this flange F that the latch H slides. In this bottom piece F are openings F F F F.

The cap piece E has an inner flange E forming a central opening E to admit the post therein. It, this cap E, is provided with a downwardly extending outer vertical flange E This flange E rests upon the bottom piece F inside of the flange F of that bottom piece F. This flange E of the cap E has two openings E E located at opposite sides of the circle described by said flange. One suchopening E is shown in Fig. 5, but as this figure is a section, the other duplicate opening on the opposite side of the cap is notshown, but as the forma tion of the parts of this cap are symmetrical, this opening E may stand for either one of such openings. So also the opening E of the cap E, see Fig. 1, may be for either of said openings. The slidable latch H is located in these openings E E and moves back and forth through them. This cap E. is further provided with narrow extensions E E E E preferably four in number. These extensions E preferably extend down and respectively pass through the respective openings F of the bottom piece F. After passing through said openings F and through openings B in the curtain, each extension E enters an adjacent recess G of the back piece G, and is then bent inwardly (toward the center of the latch box A), forming a flange which latter enters a recess G in this back piece G. Each of these recesses G is overarched with a part G of the piece G, so that each flange of the cap piece E is held down under its adjacent part G of the piece G. The back piece G as shown is underneath the curtain B. But this back piece G has a central opening G to admit the post 0. Around this opening G there is a flange G of the back piece G, and this flange G extends upward through the opening B of the curtain and comes up against the bottom piece F. This flange G not only supports the bottom piece F, but

also forms a wall for a part of the central oxenin through which the ost C extends P c: s P

flange F of the bottom piece F and slides thereon. The latch H is held down by the flange E of the cap piece E, which flange E extends down-to thela-tch plate and is between and at its opposite sides close to the side flanges 11 of the slide Ha This flange E is. preferably located at the edge of the opening E of said cap pieceE. This flange E also is guide which servesto keep the slide H in position. In this manner the cap piece E holds all of the several parts of the latch box' A together in po'si tion, and also holds the curtain in place in the latch; box.

The post- G is suitably connected to the body or other proper part of the vehicle, and this part is generally indicated by the character D. Thepost has ahead (3, which is of larger diameter or width than" theshank C The-base C of the post is" preferably enlargedto be a' firmer support for the post. The post might be providedwith a screw shank in one piece with it, for connecting it to thepieceD'. Sucl'r shankbeing a common and well known means, is not shown, but the preferred lnodeof connecting the post to the part D is as follows: I pro vide a passage O through the post C; and the top part of this passage is countersunk. In this passage G I place a screw 0 having a countersunk head, and screw the same down into the part D as shown.

In the latch there 1s an elongated opening consisting of two dimensions.

the size of the head C of the post. There is a narrow part H smaller than the head C of the post but just large enough to ad mit the shank C of thepost.

The mode in which my invention operates is as follows; The latch box A being attached in place on the curtain B, as shown, and it is desired to connect the curtain to-the post, the latch H is slid to the position The" latch box A is then placed over and upon: the" post C, and the latter enters the central opening in the latch box .A and passes through the opening HP shown in Fig. 3.

of the latch. The head: 6 of the post C is now beyond or above the latch- H; The

latch H- is now slid back, and the shank of There is a large part H which is slightly larger than the post C enters the narrow portion H" of I be borne in mind that castings are rough as the opening in the latch. Thus the latch box and the curtain are securely fastened to the vehicle.

To unlock the curtain fastener, one simply draws the latch back in the opposite direction from that in which he moved it when he looked the fastener.

It will be noted that the friction on the latch of those parts of the latch box which are adjacent to the latch is such that the latch will not slip from the position it is put in by the operator.

In addition to the important advantages already mentioned, I desire to note the fol lowing, viz.: the construction is one very economical of manufacture. It very simple in construction; the several parts are readily assembled and quickly applied to the curtain. I have also had in View the most convenient and cheapest material bringing the best resultants in manufacture, namely: sheet metal, and the construction is such that every portion of the box can be made out of sheet metal, and by that efficient process known as stamping. Such process gives quite an advantage in obtaining a. smooth finish, and saves labor. It enables the latch box to be made lighter in weight. It will compared with sheet metal stamped, and would have to be milled to equal the face of stamped sheet brass. This milling )rocess is very expensive, and for the manu acture of the article which I here present the extra cost of it would be prohibitive of the successful introduction of my invention to the public, however useful my invention is in itself.

\Vhat I claim as new and of my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

Tn a curtain fastener, a slidable latch having vertical side and end flanges to brace and stitl'en the latch plate, a bottom plate upon which the latch slides, and a cap to fit over and hold secure the latch, with notches in the cap and tongues between the notches to fit down over the flanges of the latch, with the tongues and side edges of the notches bearing on the latch to hold same with fric- 

